P. L. Deshpande (November 8, 1919 – June 12, 2000) was a noted Indian writer in Marathi. He was also famous as an orator and performing artist. He wrote as Pu La (IPA: /pʊ.ɫ/) Deshpande, from his initials in Marathi.

Translation:In a letter, all we own is the address on the envelope. The contents are a matter of fate.

Alternate translation: Ultimately, it may be our name on the envelope, but someone else (God) is the one who wrote the message.

Pu La had a penchant for ending his humourous works with thought-provoking punchlines. In this quote from his work Post Office, he sums up on how life is a lot like the the letters that pass through the post office.

Translation: Alas! So there is no escape from the question. Not for me, not for anyone! Then life is just breathing or running behind infinite number of questions? And then, what question is really ? And what answer is too? This too a question. I observe the question mark carefully. And Eureka ! I didn't know that my answer was encrypted and hidden in that symbol of a question mark. The dot below the curved stroke in a question mark symbolizes Zero as the question's answer itself, I never knew. Punctuation marks are so carefully crafted, I never knew![citation needed]

जगात काय बोलत आहात ह्यापेक्षा कोण बोलत आहात ह्याला जास्त महत्त्व आहे.

Translation: In this world, "who is saying", is more important than "what is being said" !

Alternate translation: In this world, who you are is more important than what you are saying.

Source: Asa mi Asami

प्रयास हा प्रतिभेचा प्राणवायू आहे.

Translation: Effort is the oxygen for talent.

Source: These words are uttered by the lead character of his work with the same name - Sakharam Gatne.

In his hilarious work 'Mi ani majha shatrupaksha' (Me and my enemy party), Pu La criticizes people who bore others by telling them accounts of their travels, showing them pictures of holidays or discussing their housing construction plans. This particular quote is from a situation when the author is forced to sit through a painfully slow and boring display of old photographs by a husband and wife.

It is a play on the English word "looked" and the Marathi word "thin", which is pronounced "lukdi". The character who speaks the first part of the quote is intermingling English and Marathi in the lines.

Translation: It was also suggested that, In London, I should work as a porter to gain some monetary pounds while losing some pounds in weight.

In his travelogue Apoorvai (अपूर्वाइ), Pu La describes the non-stop flow of advice before traveling to London. This quote is one advice given to him on learning on how many pounds porters charge for carrying baggage on train stations in London.

परिस्थिति हा अश्रूंचा कारखाना आहे!.

Translation:Circumstance is a factory of tears.

Source: These words are uttered by the lead character of his work with the same name - Sakharam Gatne.